MEATH BIOS

Davenport, the commercial center of Iowa and the home of many extensive
wholesale houses, finds one of its prominent representatives in Thomas F.
Halligan, president of the Halligan Coffee Company, an enterprise of large and
extensive proportions, in the development of which he has been a most important
factor. In commercial affairs he displays marked ability in discriminating
between the essential and non-essential and bringing into close harmony the
varied forces that constitute the interests of the enterprise with which he has
been associated. He is one of the city's native sons, born October 25, 1855. His
father, Patrick Joseph Halligan, was a native of Ireland, born in Summerhill,
County Meath, August 31, 1825. He came to the United States as a young man of
twenty-four years, settling in Paterson, New Jersey, in 1849. He there resided
for two years, during which time he was married, on the 27th of October, 1850 to
Miss Ellen McNally, a native of Clonard, County Kildare, Ireland, who came to
the United States in 1850 and died in 1897. In 1851 Patrick J. Halligan and his
young wife removed from Paterson, New Jersey, to Peru, Illinois, where for two
years he was connected with the gas business. On the 17th of August, 1853, he
arrived in Davenport and was superintendent of the gas company here from 1858
until 1888, or for a period of thirty years, at the end of which time he
retired. He enjoyed in unqualified measure the confidence and trust of those
whom he represented and gave to them an efficient and valuable service, which
was indicated in his long connection with the company. He enjoyed, moreover, the
unwqualified good will and esteem of all with whom he came in contact outside of
business relation. He had a strong love for the land of his birth and was a
member of the Sarsfield Guards when in Ireland, but was ever a most loyal
American, in full sympathy with the republican form of government and the
liberal principles for which this country stands. He died in 1893.

Thomas F. Halligan was the third in a family of six children, all of whom were
born in Davenport with the exception of the eldest son, John. In St.
Marguerite's parochial school Thomas F. Halligan pursued his studies until
fifteen years of age, when he accepted a position in a flour and feed store,
where he continued for a year. He then became delivery clerk in the grocery
store of Morrison & Glaspell and thus obtained his initial knowledge of the
business, with which he has been more or less intimately associated since that
time. He remained with the firm and their successors for five years and in June,
1875, accepted a position with Milton J. Gaspell. On the 1st of January, 1884,
he entered into partnership with Mr. Glaspell in the grocery business at No. 16
East Third street under the firm name of Glaspell & Halligan. They were very
successful, the firm enjoying a growing trade until 1887, when Mr. Halligan sold
his interest and with G. J. Washburn organized the Washburn-Halligan Coffee
Company, carrying a large line of teas, coffees and spices. This undertaking
also proved profitable from its inception and after five years at their original
location the firm in 1892 removed from Third street to larger quarters at No.
215 East Second street. On two occasions they suffered losses through fire but
with resolute purpose they conducted their interests, the business continuing to
prosper and grow until there was a pressing demand for still more commodious
quarters. In 1907 the present magnificent building was erected and the business
is now carried on extensively on East Fourth street. This is one of the most
complete and attractive wholesale buildings in Davenport, where the wholesale
trade of this section of the country largely centers. Mr. Washburn retired in
1896 and the business was then reorganized under the name of the Halligan Coffee
Company, with Thomas F. Halligan as president, R. F. Miller, vice president,
William Lillis, secretary, and Joseph E. Halligan, treasurer. The trade today
extends largely over Iowa, Missouri, the Dakotas, Minnesota and Illinois. The
house sustains an unassailable reputaion for the reliability of its business
methods, and the spirit of enterprise and industry which dominates every
department constitutes the basic element in the development of what is today one
of the largest and most important wholesale concerns of the city.

On the 17th of August, 1886, Mr. Halligan was married to Miss Mary, a daughter
of John and Bridget Lillis. Mrs. Halligan was born in Davenport and by her
marriage has become the mother of six children: Gilbert L., Eugene J., Grace,
Camilla, Thomas, Francis and Angela.

Mr. Halligan's social nature finds expression in his membership with the
Commercial Club, the Woodmen of the World and the Knights of Columbus, and his
standing in business circles is indicated in the fact that he has been elected
to the presidency of the Jobbers & Manufacturers Association. He is active
in every project concerning the welfare of the city and is a loyal son of
Davenport, doing everything in his power to promote her welfare along the lines
of substantial and permanent growth and improvement. He is recognized by friends
and business associates as a man of high character and sterling qualities and
his life record exemplifies many traits of character which are well worthy of
emulation.

Biographical History and Portrait Gallery of
Scott County...1895; American Biographical Publishing

Patrick Joseph Halligan.
Mr. Halligan is a native of Ireland, being the son of
John Halligan and Mary (Young) Halligan, now deceased, both born in England, but
at the time of Patrick's birth on August 31, 1825, residents of Summerhill,
County Meath. Mr. Halligan made up his mind early in life to come to America,
thinking that in this country he would find better opportunities for his
advancement, and accordingly he took passage in the year 1849, reaching the
United States on the fifteenth of July. He settled at Paterson, New Jersey,
where he remained for a couple of years.
He was married in Paterson on October 27, 1850, to Miss
Ellen McNally, a native of Clonard, County Kildare, and who was born on June 20,
1823. Mrs. Halligan came to America in 1850, touching the soil for the first
time on August 18. Mr. and Mrs. Halligan have six children, all of whom reside
in the City of Davenport. They are: John, James, Thomas, William and Joseph,
sketches of whom appear elsewhere, and Mary, born October 18, 1859, now residing
with her parents.
Mr. Halligan left Paterson in May, 1851, and came west
to Peru, Illinois, where for about two years he was connected with the gas
business. On August 17, 1853, he reached Davenport where he has resided ever
since. He was superintendent of the gas company here for thirty years (from 1858
to 1888), after which he retired from active life to the enjoyment of a well
earned rest.
He has never held a public office in the community, but
he has been one of the most successful men who ever resided here, simply because
he made his business the foremost purpose of his life. This, however, should not
be understood to mean that he was so much occupied with his business that he
took no interest in public affairs, but simply that he perfected himself, as
nearly as it was in his power to do, in the business he chose when a young man
and made himself so proficient in it that his services to the company were very
valuable. Politics had no charms for him. He preferred rather a peaceful,
domestic life than an exciting political career. In religious belief Mr.
Halligan is a Catholic and in politics he is a Democrat.

BRIERTON

History of Johnson County,
Iowa...from 1836 to 1882; Iowa City, Iowa: 1883

Brierton, Michael, farmer and merchant,
post-office Windham; was born in the county of Meath Ireland, May 22, 1824, and
followed farming until he was 26 years of age. He then came to America and lived
in the State of New York about three years and a half, and then in 1853 went to
California and followed mining and ranching for three years and a half. He came
to Johnson County in 1857, and bought property in Windham, and has since
lived there, being engaged in the real estate business; also kept a general
stock of merchandise. He is one of the most influential men in Hardin twp. He
was married Aug 11, 1857, to Ellen Dowd, a native of Ireland, and who came to
America in 1850. They had but one child, Matthew, who died when small. Mr.
Brierton is at present engaged in stock dealing, and owns 140 acres in this
county, and 120 in Iowa county. He has served as township clerk for twelve
years.

There is no one in Allamakee
county who has more truly earned the title of self-made man than Charles
Cummings, a prosperous farmer owning one hundred and seventy-four acres in
Franklin township and a carpenter by trade, which occupation he followed in
earlier years for some time with gratifying success. He was born at Forest City,
Iowa, May 1, 1879, and is a son of Thomas and Alice (Van Horn) Cummings, the
father of a native of Ireland, where he was born in County Meath, September 10,
1832, and the mother of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, where her birth occurred March
21, 1848. Both have passed away, the father's death occurring November 1, 1905,
and that of the mother June 17, 1911. The father in early life followed the
occupation of a sailor on the Great Lakes and on the Mississippi river. He had
come to this country with his father when a boy of but ten years of age, their
first location being New Jersey. Later they came to Allamakee county, where
Thomas Cummings subsequently married and became a landholder. Still later he
went to western Minnesota, there engaging successfully in farming for twenty
years, at the end of which period he returned to Franklin township in 1889. Here
he settled upon a farm upon which he continued until his death, the mother also
remaining there until she passed away. The father was ever interested in the
welfare of his locality and prominent and influential with his fellow citizens,
although he never aspired to public office.
Charles Cummings was the sixth of a family of seven children. He attended school
at Walnut Grove in Monona township, Clayton county, and remained with his mother
until 1903, when he moved to Monona, having previously learned the carpenter's
trade. He worked at that occupation there for three years and then rented his
mother's farm for seven years. In 19?? he bought the farm upon which he now
resides. It comprises one hundred and seventy-four acres of fertile land,
devoted to general farming and stock-raising. His buildings are kept in good
repair and his land brings him rich harvests. He is modern and progressive and
follows the latest methods, having installed up-to-date machinery and equipment
upon his place. Mr. Cummings is also a stockholder in the Farmers Cooperative
Creamery at Monona and in the Farmers Commission Company of that place, both of
which organizations were founded in order to facilitate a more profitable
disposal of farm products.
On March 26, 1903, Mr. Cummings was married to Miss Exa White, a native of
Farmersburg, Clayton county, where she was born July 27, 1879, a daughter of
Edward and Martha (Gast) White. The father was born in New Jersey, December 28,
1843, and died August 9, 1891, and the mother was a native of Indiana, her day
of birth being August 2, 1841, and her death occurring April 30, 1913. The
father came with his parents to Iowa, where they made settlement near
Farmersburg, In Clayton county. There he grew to manhood, learning the
carpenter's trade ,which he followed all his life. He died in that vicinity and
the mother subsequently moved to Monona, where she made her home until her
demise. Mrs. Cummings was the sixth in their family of seven children. Mr. and
Mrs. Cummings have become the parents of two children: Evelyn Maxine, born May
15, 1904; and Thomas Edward, born February 7, 1906.
Politically Mr. Cummings is a democrat, taking an intelligent interest in all
matters that affect the government. He has never aspired to official honors,
however, preferring to give his support to worthy public measures as a private
citizen. He is a member of the Modern Brotherhood of America but has no other
fraternal associations. Such prosperity as has come to him is well merited, as
it is but the outcome of intelligently applied efforts and what he has achieved
is not only a source of satisfaction to him, but as part of the agricultural
development which has taken place in Allamakee county, is a factor in the growth
and progress that makes up this rich district in the middle west.

Charles J. Murray, township assessor of South
Fork township through the past twelve years and proprietor of Cloverdale, one of
the fine farm proprietors of his section of the state, was born on the old
family homestead October 21, 1864, his parents being James and Mary A. (Ronan)
Murray. The father was born in County Meath, Ireland, in 1826, and came to
America in 1849. He settled in Worcester, Massachusetts, where he became foreman
of a tannery, remaining there for five years. In 1854 he arrived in the middle
west and took up his abode in South Fork township, Delaware county, Iowa, where
he purchased eighty acres of government land at a dollar and a quarter per acre.
To his original holdings he added from time to time until he was finally the
owner of two hundred and forty acres of valuable land. In 1863 he wedded Miss
Mary A. Ronan, whose parents were born in Ireland, although she was a native of
New York, in which state her father and mother were married. James Murray died
in 1900 and his widow is now living in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In their family
were eight children, three sons and five daughters, of whom Charles J. is the
eldest. The second, Margaret, or Maggie, born in 1866, is the wife of B.H.
Magirl, a contractor of Ryan, Delaware county, by whom she has four children.
Mary, born in 1869, is the wife of P.P. Samels, a grocer of Minneapolis, and
they have two daughters. Anna, born in 1871, is the wife of Henry Ersfeld,
proprietor of a meat market of Lakeville, Minnesota and they have two sons.
Katie, born in 1873, is the wife of Frank P. McDonough, a farmer of South Fork,
and they have six children, four sons and two daughters. Lizzie, born in 1876,
is the wife of C.J. Kramer, proprietor of a meat market of Farmington,
Minnesota, and they have two sons, John S., born in 1879 and a car inspector at
Farmington, Minnesota, married Miss Nellie Goodman and they have three
daughters. James E., born January 1, 1882, conducts a restaurant at Farmington
and owns a farm near by. He married Miss Mamie Hawkins and they have one child.
Charles J. Murray was educated in the public schools and spent two years in the
parochial school. Through vacation periods he worked upon his father's farm and
has since been continually identified with general agricultural pursuits. In
1892 he purchased the farm from his parents and has since made a number of
substantial and attractive improvements thereon and has also added to his land
until his holdings now aggregate four hundred and seventy acres of farm land and
twenty-one acres of timber land in Dubuque county. About ten years ago the old
residence burned down, after which a small temporary house was built, in which
the family was reared. In 1911, however, Mr. Murray erected a very modern and
spacious residence which is indeed an ornament to the farm. It is of attractive
style of architecture and is equipped in most modern style, with two bathrooms,
electric lights, furnace heat and all other accessories which add to the comfort
at the present day. Not only the house but the other buildings upon the place
indicate his progressive spirit. He has splendid silos upon his farm and thus is
enabled to care for food products for the stock. He buys western lambs which he
fattens and ships to Chicago. He also engages in feeding and shipping hogs and
he conducts a modernly equipped dairy. His place is called Cloverdale and is one
of the finest farms in the county. He is also a director of the farmers'
creamery board.
On the 8th of January, 1896, Mr. Murray was united in marriage to Miss Mary
Garrity, a daughter of William and Frances (Kenney) Garrity. Mrs. Murray was
born October 22, 1869, near Cascade, Iowa, where her father was engaged in
farming. He is still living, but the mother passed away in 1912. In their family
were ten children, nine of whom survive. The maternal grandfather, Squire
Kenney, was quite a character in his early life. He left his native land,
Ireland, and became a resident of New England, where he married the daughter of
a "genuine Yankee" with whom he returned to Ireland, and there Mrs.
Murray's mother was born. Later the couple again came to the United States,
where they reared their family, which in time numbered eight children. Mr.
Garrity was born in Boston, of Irish parentage, and came to Iowa with his
parents at an early day. He was one of the forty-niners who crossed the plains
to California at the time of the gold excitement. He did not spend much time in
searching for precious metal, however, but engaged in the dairy business and
taught school and finally made the return trip by way of Cape Horn.
To Mr. and Mrs. Murray have been born seven children: Minnie, whose natal day
was October 16, 1896; Laura, whose birth occurred on the 16th of November 1897;
Mary and James, twins, born October 28, 1900; Louis, December 25, 1903; Charles,
September 5, 1907; and Alice, born January 18, 1909. All are yet at home. Minnie
has completed a normal course in the Academy of the Visitation at Dubuque, where
Laura is now a student. The former participated in 1913 in a great contest
arranged by The Drovers Journal of Chicago, in which she won the first prize, a
two-thousand dollar Mitchell-Six automobile, and as a consequence her name
became known all over the country where that journal was circulated.
Mr. Murray is a Democrat in his political views and had been township assessor
for twelve years and also president of the school board five years. In this
county the presidents of the school board elect the county school
superintendent. Mr. Murray has also been a member of the Democrat County Central
Committee for a number of years and a delegate to the state convention at
Council Bluffs in 1914. However, he regards the pursuits of private life as in
themselves abundantly worthy of his best efforts and is prominently a farmer-
enterprising, alert and progressive, winning success through carefully directed
effort, sound judgment and unfaltering diligence.

CAREY

The Pioneer History of Pocahontas County,
Iowa...by Robert E. Flickinger. Fonda: G. Sanborn, 1904.

Carey, John,(b. 1843) is a native of Made
(Meath?)
county, Ireland, and coming to America with his parents in 1846, located in
Massachusetts and two years later near Rome, Oneida county, N.Y. In 1857 they
came in wagons to the vicinity of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where they remained during
the next twenty-seven years. John was the oldest member of a family of six
children, of whom Matthew and Lawrence and their families came with him to
Pocahontas county in 1884. Ann, his sister, married Thomas Lynch, Mary married
Thomas Jones and Bridget married Garrett Mackey. All are members of the Catholic
church.
John in 1873 married Maggie, a sister of John McCafferty, and she died in 1883
in Linn county, leaving a family of five children; Maggie, James, Lawrence, John
and Mary. The next year he purchased and located on a farm of 320 acres on
section 15, Dover township, which he improved and still owns. Soon after his
arrival in this county in the spring of 1884, three of his children, James,
Lawrence and John, died of scarlet fever. On May 2, 1887, he married Mary, a
sister of Jerry S. Sullivan, and their family consists of one daughter, Annie.
In 1898 he built a house and located in Fonda.
Maggie, his eldest daughter, in 1894 married James Webb, an express messenger on
the C.M. & St. P. Ry., and lives in Chicago; Mary in 1899 married James, a
son of Matthew Burns, and lives in Omaha.

Carey, Matthew, (b. Ireland, 1845; d. 1889) in
1867 married Bridget Lally and located on a farm in Linn county, Iowa. In 1884
he located on a farm of 160 acres on section 25, Dover township, which he
improved and occupied until his death in 1889. It is still occupied by his
family which consisted of five children.
William, (b. Iowa, 1871) in 1900 married Susan Marx, lives on his own farm on
section 34, which he bought in 1896 and improved by the erection of a new house
and barn since his marriage. He has a good orchard and vineyard, and a large
plot planted in small fruits. He has one child, Margarite.
Mary married William T. Fitzgerald and lives at Varina. Maggie, John and Hazel
are at home.

Carey, Lawrence, (b. 1847) is a native of
Massachusetts. In 1874 he married Mary, sister of John McCafferty, and located
on a farm in Linn county, Iowa, and in 1884 on 160 acres on section 16, Dover
township, which he improved with good buildings, increased to 240 acres and
still occupies. Three of his children died of scarlet fever in the spring of
1884, soon after his arrival in this county. Eight children are living: Annie,
William, Frank, Joseph, Nellie, Raymond, Jennie and the baby.

Matthew Garrigan, who died August 22, 1899, was
one of the foremost farmers of Taylor Township and was deserving of much credit
for the success he made of life under adverse circumstances. He was a native of
County Meath, Ireland, and in 1849 came with his widowed mother and sisters to
America and established a home in the state of New York. In 1857 he married
Julia O'Reilly, and in 1864, attracted by the glowing reports of the
opportunities for getting ahead in the West, came to Dubuque county, Iowa. From
the savings of himself and wife he bought 120 acres of unimproved prairie land
in Taylor township and, locating on this farm, began improving it to the best of
his ability. He was hard working and industrious, and was ably assisted by his
wife and children until the property was brought to a high state of cultivation.
He later bought an additional 80 acres and, at the time of his death, when
eighty years old, was the owner of 200 acres of valuable land. Mrs. Garrigan was
born November 18, 1830 in County West Meath, Ireland, the second in a family of
seven children born to James and Ann (Brady) O'Reilly. She came with her parents
to the United States in 1847, and resided with them at Lansingburg, New York,
where she was married. Some time after the death of her husband she moved to
Farley, where she now lives, honored and respected, at the age of nearly
eighty-one years. To Mr. and Mrs. Garrigan the following named children were
born: James, unmarried and living at home with his mother; Ann, the wife of
Frank Cunningham, the mother of six children and residing in Omaha, Nebraska;
Mary, now Mrs. Samuel Cotter, of St. Paul, Minnesota, and the mother of one
child; Catharine, the Mother Superior of the Academy of the Immaculate
Conception, Dubuque; Matthew, who married Anna Gunn, by whom he has three
children, and resides at Coney Island, New York; Theresa, died in infancy; and
Julia, the wife of Robert Lockwood, now living at Chicago, Illinois, the mother
of six children. Mr. Garrigan was a member of St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church
at Farley, as is also Mrs. Garrigan, and all their children were reared in the
Catholic faith.

DOWLING

The History of Jackson County,
Iowa...Chicago: Western Hist. Co., 1879.

Thomas Dowling, farmer and horticulturist, Sec.
2; P.O. Garry Owen; was born in County Meath, Ireland, in 1830, where he
received a liberal education. In 1848, he came to America, lived one year in New
York and on the Hudson River one year; in 1850, went to Green Bay pineries,
Michigan; in 1851 crossed the State of Illinois, from Chicago to Galena, most of
the way on foot then to St. Paul, thence to Chippewa pineries, Wisconsin, where
he remained about a year; in 1853, he traveled and worked his way through the
Southern States, saw slavery in all its workings and thence became an
Abolitionist. He married, in Galena, Miss Mary Seymour in 1854; she was a native
of France; immediately after their marriage they moved to Dubuque, where they
resided eighteen months, and in the fall of 1855, removed on the farm where they
now reside; they have two children- Mary A. and Emily, who married Mr. Joseph
Hart, and has town sons- Joseph and Thomas. In 1865 Mr. Dowling became restless
for travel, and wanted to see the Pacific Coast, so went to California and
thence to Oregon, through Washington Territory, from there to Idaho, through the
Rocky Mountains in Montana, and to British Columbia; returned, satisfied that
there was no better country than Iowa. Mr. Dowling owns over 100 acres of land;
he devotes much of his time to horticulture, and is rearing over fifty varieties
of the finest and most rare plants; he has several varieties of apple, plum,
cherry and other fruit-bearing trees, all in fine condition; his lawn is full of
fragrant flowers, spicy shrubs, and luxuriant trees; he has a good farm and snug
home, pleasant and comfortable, and one in which, after years of toil and labor,
he can peacefully and serenely spend his declining years.

Portrait and Biographical Album of Jackson
County, Iowa. Chicago: Chapman Brothers, 1889

THOMAS C.
DOWLING. Thirty-four years ago, in the fall of 1855, the subject of this
notice came to this county, and entered 120 acres of land on section 11, in
Brandon Township. It was covered with timber, and Mr. Dowling made it his first
business to put up a log cabin for the shelter of his family. He then began
felling the trees, and preparing the soil for cultivation. He battled with the
various elements of pioneer life for a series of years, and in due time met with
the usual reward of industry and perseverance. He later added nine and one-half
acres, on section 2; whereon is his residence and farm buildings, which are very
neat and substantial structures. The dwelling, erected in 1885, is accounted one
of the best in the township. In the building up of the homestead there has been
exercised good taste and judgment, Mr. Dowling having planted shade and
ornamental trees around the dwelling, together with an apple orchard and the
smaller fruit trees. For the last few years he has given considerable attention
to stock-raising, and is in the enjoyment of a comfortable income.
Our subject was born on the other side of the Atlantic,
in County Meath, Ireland, seven miles from the city of Dublin, Dec. 23, 1830,
and is the son of John and Elizabeth (Dillon) Dowling. The father of our subject
followed hotel-keeping and farming combined, in his native county of Meath until
1853. He then emigrated to the United States, settling in Galena, Ill.; but
being homesick for his native land, and preferring it to America, he returned in
1854, and there spent the remainder of his life, dying in 1866. He had one
brother, Thomas, who came to the United States, and died (unmarried) in
Illinois.
The mother of our subject accompanied her husband to
the United States and remained here, making her home with her children. Her
decease took place at the home of her son Anthony, in Butler Township, this
county, in 1872. The parental family consisted of the following children: Mary
died after her marriage; Thomas C., our subject, was the second child; Margaret
is the widow of John Carr, resides in Dubuque, and is the owner of a fine
property; John, a bachelor, is a resident of Dubuque, and is also well-to-do;
James is an extensive farmer of Webster County, this State; Patrick resides in
this county; Michael is Superintendent of a Western railroad and makes his
headquarters in Salt Lake City; Anthony is farming in Webster County.
Our subject received a liberal education in his native
land, and emigrated to America in 1848. He lived one year in New York City, and
spent a year in a brick-yard on the Hudson River. Thence he emigrated to the
pineries of Michigan, and sojourned not far from the city of Green Bay. In 1851
he reached Galena, Ill., walking most of the way to that point from Chicago.
Later we find him in St. Paul, Minn; and then in Chippewa Falls, Wis., where he
remained one year. In 1853 he visited the South, and was a witness of the
workings of slavery, to which he has always been bitterly opposed. In 1855 he
came to this county, of which he has since been a resident.
The marriage of our subject with Miss Mary V. Seymour
took place at Galena, April 11, 1854. This lady was born in August, 1829, in
France, and is the daughter of Joseph and Emma Seymour, who were natives of
France and came to the United States about 1830, settling in St. Charles County,
Mo. The parents only lived a short time afterward, both dying in 1832. They left
four children; little Mary being then but three years old. She was taken into
the home of a family, with whom she remained until thirteen years old, and was
then placed with the Catholic Sisters of Charity in St. Louis. From there, in
1849, she went to Galena, Ill., and resided with the family of Mr. Bradley, now
Judge Bradley, of Chicago, until 1852. Afterward she lived for a time in
Davenport, this State, then returned to Galena, where she met and married our
subject.
Mr. and Mrs. Dowling became the parents of three
children, only two of whom are living- Mary and Emily. The latter is the wife of
E.J. Hart, and lives in Jones County, Iowa; she has seven children, viz: Joseph
E., James T., Isadore M., Mary A., Emma J., John F., and Clement B. Mr. Dowling
was one of the first Irish-born citizens to vote the Republican ticket in this
county. In his journeyings throughout the South, whither he went in the
interests of the underground railroad, he saw enough of the "peculiar
institution" - slavery - to set his face resolutely against it and its
workings, and he has the satisfaction of feeling that he assisted many a poor
fugitive to freedom. He was reared in the doctrines of the Catholic Church, to
which he still loyally adheres. In 1856 he visited the Pacific Coast,
traveling through California and Oregon, and up the Rocky Mountains as far as
British Columbia. He returned to Iowa satisfied that there was no more desirable
section of the country for a permanent residence than the Hawkeye State. He has
one of the most attractive homes in this township, and is numbered among its
most highly esteemed citizens.

SHARON

Biographical History and Portrait Gallery of
Scott County...1895; American Biographical Publishing

Among the lawyers of Davenport who have
achieved distinction and won the esteem and confidence of their clients and the
public is Emmett M. Sharon, who was born at Sterlingville, Jefferson County, New
York, on the twenty-third of March, 1847. The home of Mr. Sharon's ancestors was
near the "Hall of Tara" in County Meath, Ireland, famous in early
Irish history as a royal residence. His grandfather emigrated from there when
Thomas Sharon, the father of the subject of this sketch, was an infant, coming
to New York. Thomas Sharon was a farmer and in his leisure moments an omnivorous
reader and student. He was a leading man in the community where he lived an many
looked to him for counsel. He filled many positions of private trust, and for
fifteen years previous to his death filled the office of Justice of the Peace.
His wife, Mary (Keon) Sharon, was also a native of Ireland, born at Enniskillen,
County Fermanagh, and came to this country at an early age. She was a woman of
domestic character and deep religious convictions. Emmett M. Sharon received his
earlier education at the public schools, Antwerp Academy and the Watertown
High School, from which he graduated in the class of 1871. He subsequently
entered Hamilton College, from which he graduated in the was graduated with the
class of 1875. He won honors in writing and in extemporaneous debate. The year
following the completion of his college course he was principal of the
Lawrenceville Academy, St. Lawrence County, New York. In 1876 he came to Iowa
and was principal of the high school at Laporte City in Black Hawk County for a
year. He studied law in the office of George and C.A. Bishop, and was admitted
to practice at Waterloo in June, 1878. After admission he began the practice of
law at Laporte, where he remained until September, 1887, when he came to
Davenport, which offered inducements and opportunities for business not to be
found in a smaller or less wealthy town. During his residence at Laporte Mr.
Sharon was successful as a lawyer and highly esteemed by his fellow-townsmen,
who elected him a member of the school board in 1885, and mayor of the city in
1887. In the year 1891, after four years' residence in this city, he was elected
city attorney of Davenport and reelected in 1892,1893 and 1894. Among the public
enterprises he has been connected with are the two building and loan
associations, the Hibernian Hall Association and the Davenport Club, all of
which he helped organize. He has been associated with the following societies:
Ancient Order of Knights of Pythias, Roman Catholic Mutual Protective Society
and Ancient Order of Hibernians, in three of which he has been presiding
officer; he has also been a member of the County and District Judicial and
Congressional political committees, and is now secretary and treasurer of the
Democratic County Committee of Scott County. He was one of the organizers of
both the Horace Boies Club and the Scott County Democracy. His lifelong
membership in the Democratic party, however, does not prevent him from taking
unpartisan views of men and measures. On the tenth of October, 1878, Mr. Sharon
married Miss Ida May Bishop, the daughter of George Bishop, one of the earliest
lawyers of Northern Iowa, whose ancestors settled in Vermont generations ago.
Mrs. Sharon is descended on the maternal side from the Spencer family of New
York, whose ancestors came to America on the Mayflower.
Conservative and slow to make acquaintances, Mr. Sharon
has been successful in retaining friends, of whom he has a large circle. As a
lawyer he has been a painstaking student and a hard worker. Knowing that work
means success, he has not shrunk from the "drudgery of preparation"
incident to law practice, and now finds himself, while comparatively a young
man, esteemed as a lawyer of integrity and ability, who has won an honored
position in the profession by industry and perseverance, and for whom the future
holds yet other honors and successes in store.

STARR

Harlan, Edgar Rubey. A
Narrative History of the People of Iowa. Vol IV. Chicago: American Historical
Society, 1931

p. 176
JAMES P. STARR, attorney-at-law, now at Fairfield, grew
up and had his early associations with the legal profession in Van Buren County,
where his father was also an honored and respected lawyer.
Mr. Starr has lived most of his life in Iowa, but was
born in Missouri, November 3, 1869. The Starr family is of Quaker ancestry and
were identified with the early settlement of Pennsylvania. The records of the
family go back to the time of John Starr, who lived at Old Castle, County Meath,
Ireland. All his sons and daughters came to America between the years 1674 and
1697 and located in Pennsylvania. Moses Starr was one of the first settlers in
Berks County, Pennsylvania, and was the first representative from that county to
the Provincial Assembly.
Robert H. Starr, father of James P., was born in Berks
County, Pennsylvania, April 16, 1840. He was visiting his sister in Illinois
when he enlisted in Company K of the Thirty-sixth Illinois Infantry for service
as a Union soldier, and continued his military career until honorably discharged
on January 6, 1865, in consequence of a gun shot wound in the right leg. His leg
had to be amputated. On December 25, 1865, Robert H. Starr married Mary C.
Smith, also a native of Berks County, Pennsylvania, where she was born April 4,
1846. Both the Starr and Smith families had moved out to northeastern Missouri
before the Civil war. Robert H. Starr made his home in Clark County, Missouri,
until 1874, when he moved to Iowa and settled at Keosauqua in Van Buren County.
While living in Clark County, Missouri, he was elected county officer and while
in that office took up the study of law and was admitted to the bar in 1874. He
qualified for practice in Iowa in 1875, and gained a fine reputation as lawyer,
particularly in the civil practice. He kept up his professional work until
almost the time of his death in 1901. In 1906 his widow retuned to her old home
in Clark County, Missouri. Robert H. Starr served two terms of mayor of
Keosauqua. He was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic.
James P. Starr was one of ten children. He was five
years old when his parents came to Iowa, and he grew up in Van Buren County,
attending public schools and the law department of the University of Iowa. He
was admitted to the bar in 1892, and at once became associated with his father
in practice at Keosauqua. For four years, 1893-97, he was deputy clerk of Van
Buren County, but with that exception he was associated with his father until
the latter's death and then formed a partnership with J.C. Calhoun. The firm of
Starr & Calhoun constituted an able firm in Van Buren County until December,
1906, when Mr. Starr dissolved the partnership and moved to Fairfield. Here for
over twenty years he has engaged in general law practice and has won the most
substantial honors of his profession. He was appointed mayor of Fairfield on the
resignation of Dr. J.F. Clark in October, 1910, and in March, 1911, was elected
for the full term in that office. Mr. Starr is a member of the Christian Church
and is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
He married March 3, 1893, Miss Chloe Fellows, of
Keosauqua, daughter of S.D. and Ann (Bowen) Fellows. Her people were among the
pioneer families of Van Buren County. Mr. and Mrs. Starr have four children,
Helen M., Keo. F., Io M and James Carlton.

HON. THOMAS
LEDWICH. -
It is to such characters as the Hon. Thomas Ledwich that Americans are indebted
for their knowledge of the typical descendants of the sons and daughters of the
Emeralds Isle, and it is of this type that Ireland may well be proud. Thomas
Ledwich was born in Serrington, Lower Canada, November 8, 1840. He is the son of
Robert and Bridget (Louth) Ledwich, of County Meath, Ireland, who emigrated to
America in 1829. In 1843 they moved to Shoreham, Vermont, and afterward to
Moriah, Essex County, New York. The subject of our sketch was reared on a farm
receiving his education in the public schools, and at the academy in the latter
town. At the breaking out of the war in 1861 he answered the call for troops to
defend the flag of his country, and enlisted at Albany, New York, May 7, 1861,
in Company E, Twenty-second New York Volunteer Infantry. He participated in many
hard-fought battles, and at the second battle of Bull Run was twice wounded, so
that for a time he was disabled from active service. His term of enlistment
expired in May, 1863, and he was honorably discharged June 19, 1863. Immediately
re-enlisting in the Second New York Veteran Cavalry, he was commissioned Second
Lieutenant of Company A, and in 1864 he was made First Lieutenant. He took part
in most of the battles along the lower Mississippi River and was in the Red
River campaign, commanded by General Banks; during most of this time he was
acting Captain in command of the company. After the close of the war, having
faithfully served his country for four and a half years, he was honorably
discharged November 8, 1865, at Selma, Alabama. He engaged there for a time in
cotton planting, but finding it unprofitable he removed to Louisville, Kentucky,
and in 1868 to Victoria, Iowa County, Iowa, engaging there with his brother in
the mercantile business. In 1869 he engaged in the lumber business at Avoca,
Delta, the first newspaper published there. He was the first president of the
Botna Valley Agricultural Society, and was the first with his voice and his
money to advocate and assist all public enterprises. In 1878 Mr. Ledwich removed
to Harlan, Iowa, and established a lumber business, which he continued with
success Until his death. He became a leading spirit in every public enterprise
that had for its object the upbuilding of the community; he was president of the
Shelby Agricultural Society, and did much for its success. He was a member of
the town council of Harlan, and served three terms as its mayor. The following
story related of Mr. Ledwich gives the index of his character: One morning
during his term as mayor, a citizen passing down the street noticed a
broken plank in a walk, and called the mayor's attention to it. Two hours later,
going that way, he saw a new board in the walk which had been repaired by Mr.
Ledwich's prompt order. Always ready to answer the call of duty, kind,
sympathetic, generous, open-hearted, good to the poor, a true friend to all, he
was beloved by all who value true manhood. At one time when Mr. Ledwich was a
candidate for office it was urged against him that he was too enterprising, but
fortunately for Harlan, the majority approved of this "fault," and it
is due to this characteristic that Harlan has made the progress that has placed
her among the prosperous towns of western Iowa. Mr. Ledwich was a member of
Parian Lodge, No. 321, A.F. & A.M.; Olivet Chapter No. 107 and Ivanhoe
Commandery at Council Bluffs, Iowa. He was also a member of the Grand Army of
the Republic. March 9, 1869, he was married to Miss Eva G. Henderson, daughter
of John and Elizabeth (Faucet) Henderson, of Livingston County, New York. The
father was a native of Pennsylvania and the mother of Scotland. Eight children
were born to Mr. and Mrs. Ledwich, four of whom survive- Demain, Evelyn, Day and
Robert. Elm was killed by the cars at Avoca; May, a twin of Day, died at
the age of twenty-one months; Lake died at the age of two years and eight
months, and Bessie, a twin of Robert, died in infancy. The family reside in
their commodious residence in the east part of Harlan. Mrs. Ledwich is a member
of the Episcopal church. Although not a member of any church Mr. Ledwich gave
freely of his means to the support of religious work. July 8, 1885, Mr. Ledwich
passed to his eternal home. A plain granite monument marks his resting place in
the Harlan cemetery. In his death the country lost a patriot, his wife a
faithful husband, his children a loving father, and society one of its most
useful members.

GUGGERTY

Portrait and Biographical Album, Wapello
County, Iowa, published by Chapman Brothers, Chicago, 1887

LAWRENCE
GUGGERTY, a self-made man, successful farmer and stock-dealer, is pleasantly
situated on his fine farm on section 31, Cass Township, where he is surrounded
with all the luxuries of a home life, and is meeting with success in the
prosecution of his chosen vocation. Mr. Guggerty was born April 17, 1831, in
County Meath, Ireland, and is the son of Owen and Julia (Riley) Guggerty, who
became the parents of nine children. The record is as follows: Owen, Jr., is a
farmer and resides in Wisconsin; Patrick and Bartholomew resided with the
subject of this notice; Hugh is deceased; Margaret has not been heard from for
years, and her residence is consequently unknown; John is a railroad employee,
and is engaged in his labors near Jacksonville, Ill., and Lawrence is the
subject of this notice.
When Lawrence Guggerty was but three months old his
mother was left a widow, the father's death taking place in August, 1831. He was
a member of the Catholic Church, and as successful stock-dealer in the old
country, highly respected by all who knew him. The mother of our subject
departed this life in May, 1863, having attained the age of seventy-four years.
She was also a member of the Catholic Church and both husband and wife are
buried side by side in County Meath, Ireland.
In 1849, our subject, in company with his sister
Margaret, came to this country, landing in New York May 1 of that year. From the
metropolis he went to Utica, the same State, and in the neighborhood of that
city engaged in working on the farm of John M. Crane. After laboring there for
about eleven months he made up his mind to go further West, and we next hear of
him in Jo Daviess County, Ill., where he worked on the Illinois Central
Railroad. This vocation he continued until 1857, when he went to Batavia, Iowa,
and in company with Luke O'Brien took a contract to grade a part of the railroad
bed. Their first contract amounted to $3,500, after which they took another of
six miles. The latter one was taken in 1860 and completed in 1861. The partners
then engaged in buying horses for the army, and continued in that business until
1863, when they again embarked in contracting. This time they took a contract
for the building of sixty miles of railroad bed.
The firm continued in existence, meeting with success,
until 1871, when Mr. O'Brien withdrew, and Mr. Guggerty then formed a
partnership with Martin Flynn, and the new firm had at one time a contract for
the building of about twenty miles of grading for the C., B. & Q.R.R. and
forty-five miles on the Northwestern, also forty-one miles of grade south of Des
Moines, and a forty-five miles contract between Rutland and Gilmore. All these
contracts were fulfilled to the satisfaction of the companies, and thus we see
that Mr. Guggerty has had considerable to do with the upbuilding of the great
West, giving employment to thousands of men and teams.
In 1859 Mr. Guggerty began to invest his surplus funds
in land, buying at that time eighty acres. He has added thereto as the years
rolled by until at the present time he is the proprietor of 1343 acres of land,
all within the boundaries of Wapello and County and Cass Township. He also owns
320 acres in Palo Alto County, this State, making his landed possessions in the
State 1663 acres. He is also extensively engaged in stock feeding and raising,
and has about 145 head of cattle, and in this department of his vocation is
meeting with signal success.
On the 8th of January, 1861, Mr. Guggerty was united in
marriage with Miss Bridget Gallespie. She was born March 17, 1840, and is a
daughter of William and Bridget (McTye) Gallespie, who emigrated to this country
in 1845. The father died in 1862, aged seventy years; the mother died while in
her sixtieth year. Both were members of the Catholic Church. To the union of Mr.
and Mrs. Guggerty have been given ten children: Maggie A., was born Oct. 12,
1862; Julia, March 15, 1864; John T., Aug. 23, 1866; Mary A., Sept. 28, 1868;
Patrick L., Dec. 2, 1870; Bartholomew E., Jan 7, 1872; Wiliam Eugene, Dec. 23,
1874; Bridget E., Jan 14, 1876; Agnes Amy, June 8, 1878, and the youngest died
in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Guggerty are members of the Catholic Church.
In 1883 Mr. Guggerty held a lien on the Wabash Railroad
for $35,000, and being unable to obtain his money was forced to advertise the
road for sale. It was placed in a Receiver's hands, and our subject obtained his
honest dues. In fact he has never lost any money in all his dealings with
railroads. He has now withdrawn from contracting, and has erected himself a
beautiful farm residence within a stone's throw of the C., B. & Q.R.R.,
where he can sit upon his front porch and see the iron horse as it pulls its
thousands to some Eastern seashore or metropolis.

HALPIN

A Memorial and Biographical record of Iowa. Chicago: Lewis
Pub. Co., 1896

REV. WILLIAM JOSEPH
HALPIN,
pastor of St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, of Eldora, Iowa, was born on the
Emerald Isle, county Meath, March 12, 1852. His primary education was received
in the public schools of Ireland, after which he spent four years in the
diocesan seminary at Navan, Meath. Having cultivated a thirst for learning, he
then went to England, where nine years was spent at Durhamshire, finishing with
philosophy, rhetoric and theology. On his return to Ireland he continued his
school for knowledge for one year and a half in Carlow College and in 1880
embarked for America with the intention of entering the priesthood. At Dubuque,
Iowa, he was ordained by Bishop Hennessy, but instead of taking a pastorate he
accepted a call to the chair of Latin, Greek, English and rhetoric in St.
Joseph's College, Iowa. Following this, he became pastor of the Roman Catholic
Church in Early, Sac county, Iowa, where he remained four years. During this
time he erected three churches, and a parochial school.
On the 1st of March, 1885, Father Halpin removed to
Eldora, where he has been ever since. On his arrival here he assumed charge of
five churches, namely: Iowa Falls, Eldora, St. Anthony and the Dunn settlement,
all of which he served four years. This was a most arduous task and required
constant daily labor. One point was twenty-three miles away, and all except
Eldora and Iowa Falls were reached only by a team. In 1893 a priest was
stationed at St. Anthony, who took charge of the churches at St. Anthony and the
Dunn Settlement, thus relieving Father Halpin of a portion of his labors. The
Church at Eldora comprised about forty-five families with a growing tendency
toward the Church. The edifices in both places are spacious and comfortable.
Father Halpin's home at Eldora is a fine parochial residence, where after his
manifold cares of the day he can enjoy the comforts of seclusion and rest.
The Rev. Thomas J. Halpin, the elder brother of our
subject, was also educated for the ministry and spent seven years as pastor at
East Brattleboro, Burlington, Vermont. His literary education was received at
All Hallows College, Dublin, and completed at St. Hyacinth's College in Belgium.
Coming to America in 1865, he was stationed for a short time at Dorset,
Massachusetts. Illness compelled him to relinquish his pastoral labors and he
returned to his native country. His health still continuing in a precarious
condition, he journeyed to Nice and from there to the south of France, where
death overtook him in 1871. In the brief years of usefulness that were allowed
him he did much good. His sincerity of purpose and careful management
accomplished far more than many another could have done in a given time. His
parishioners were made to feel that he had a personal interest in each and all,
and they mourned sincerely when he was obliged to take his departure.
Father Halpin, our subject, ever alert to amuse as well
as to edify his parishioners, organized for the young people the Rosary Society
in Eldora and a Young Ladies' Sodality at Iowa Falls.
He is a man of rare learning, and is deeply sympathetic
with the poor and unfortunate. His influence is powerful and widespread and
wherever he goes his people vie with each other in expressions of their
devotion.